Jerry Jones Offers $25M For Mayweather-Pacquiao In Texas

Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones has offered a $25M "guarantee to host the scheduled March 13 mega-fight" between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao at Cowboys Stadium, according to a source cited by Lance Pugmire of the L.A. TIMES. The offer exceeds AEG's $20M offer to host the fight at Staples Center. Jones' offer will be "greatly challenged by the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, which is expected to offer ringside seats for $2,500, which is $500 more than the highest-priced seats for the most lucrative fight in boxing history," Mayweather's victory over Oscar De La Hoya in May '07. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer said, "The numbers are going in the right direction, and I believe we'll end up in excess of $30[M]" (LATIMES.com, 12/12). The Dallas bid was "thought to be dead after Schaefer skipped" a scheduled tour of the stadium last week. But Top Rank Chair Bob Arum said, "I'm working really hard to bring the fight down to Dallas. ... I know we can get the greatest offer in history from the Texas stadium" (ESPNDALLAS.com, 12/13). Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban in an e-mail said he is "willing to help in anyway" to land the fight at Cowboys Stadium. Cuban: "I have a call in to Floyd and have offered my assistance. We will see what happens" (ESPNDALLAS.com, 12/12).

AND THE WINNER IS ... Arum said that he "expects to settle on a site" for the bout by next week. While noting that Las Vegas is "the front-runner, Arum claims it still might be Dallas -- and it definitely won't be L.A." Arum: "I'm saying that Dallas is a real live possibility." When asked about truth of the rumored $25M offer, Jones said, "I'm not commenting on it, but it sure could be" (AP, 12/13). ESPN.com's Dan Rafael noted "unless some other place pops up, this is a two-town race: Vegas or Dallas, neither of which levy state income taxes" (ESPN.com, 12/12). In San Antonio, John Whisler wrote Mayweather-Pacquiao is a "fight fans' fight," so it "belongs to the masses, not the privileged few." Put it at the MGM Grand in Vegas, a venue that "barely seats 16,000, and the only people who will be able to afford tickets -- and can get them -- are the casino high-rollers, corporate muckety-mucks and Hollywood celebrity snobs." But put it in Cowboys Stadium, "which can hold up to 100,000 spectators, and suddenly John Q. Public has a chance to see the fight in person." Whisler: "Boxing hasn't been mainstream in ages, yet here is a chance to take it there, at least for a few weeks" (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 12/13).